


Paradise

by Anonymousorange



Category: The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Death Cure Spoilers, F/M, Post-The Death Cure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-19
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-02 04:07:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2798951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymousorange/pseuds/Anonymousorange
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finally, Thomas and the rest of the immunes are out of WICKED's grip and in a new found paradise. So what happens next? How do the gladers make a new life for themselves now that they are finally free?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue-The Paradise

**Author's Note:**

> Well, i wanted to make my rendition on the whole paradise idea at the end of the Maze Runner series, so i did. I took a more positive outlook on it than most did, but that's okay. Any comments and feedback would be greatly appreciated. Just to be clear, this is for educational purposes only and is not intended to infringe upon any copyrights there may be. All credit for anything Maze Runner related goes to James Dashner, not me. Thanks:)

                _Is this a paradise?_ Thomas asked himself. It was too good to be true to him at this point. Why would WICKED ever choose willingly to stop the torturous experiments that were initially designed to meet their goal of a magical cure for the disease ridden planet. It made Thomas’s stomach uneasy, knowing that he had been part of that plan, although he still, and never would, know his true involvement in WICKED’s plans.

                _So what is their plan now?_ Thomas wondered. _Are they just going to let the rest of the world rot while the immunes stay here?_ He questioned how the paradise was even possible in the crank world that he once lived in, not too long ago. These were all questions Thomas didn’t know the answers to, nor, did Thomas think that anyone else dropped into this paradise with him did either.

                Thomas fell back into the real world with a shudder, looking around to see if anyone saw him staring at the yellowish sand and drooling while he was daydreaming on the beach. He concluded that no one did. After all, the only one close to him was Brenda, and she was on the shoreline, barefooted, testing out the water with her toes. Thomas was relieved that she was there with him. Her presence was comforting in a world where he only knew two people that he loved deep down that weren’t killed by WICKED’s plans. Minho and _her_

Thomas didn’t want to think of it, but the thought attack him like a rabid dog would a cat. Before he knew it, he was back inside of his brain, thinking about what he had lost.

                _Chuck_ , the chubby kid that was his best friend in the Glade. Thomas had cared about him so much that it hurt his insides with every thought of him. For him alone, Thomas had always wanted to make WICKED pay for what they had put them through. Thomas knew that the memory, or the feeling, of Chuck dying in his arms would ever wash away. It was a dead feeling, in which nothing else mattered in Thomas’s mind.

                _Teresa,_ the girl that he had once felt a strong relationship with in the Glade. The girl he could talk with about anything in his mind. Something like that wasn’t exactly replicable. However, Thomas could never forget the feeling of betrayal that she had given him in the Scorch. That feeling made him lose all love for her at one point in time. Maybe during that whole time of resentment, Thomas had been wrong. All she ever wanted to do was protect him from WICKED because she truly had loved him. He knew this deep down. An intense pang of sadness crept into his heart at the thought of her. He remembered the feeling that she gave him that night on the Scorch where she kissed him. He had once asked himself if it was real, but that fact didn’t seem to matter in the end. She loved him, but all WICKED cared about was the patterns. Their goal of trying to figure out what was going inside their heads that wasn’t going on in regular ones didn’t include any sympathy for the people within the experiment. Even through every trial and everything Thomas had put her through, she died for him. She sacrificed herself so he would end up in the paradise that he was now in. That was what saddened him so much. She was someone who always would have been there for him, no matter what. And now she was gone. Thomas knew, or at least thought, that he never deserved a friend like that anyways. After all, he was just another shank who didn’t realize what he had until it was gone.

                After all, he… killed one of his best friends.

                _No_ , he thought. _I’m not gonna do this._ He could feel his heart rate rising, his muscles starting to tense, and his hatred for himself rising. This feeling destroyed any pleasant thoughts that may have previously been in his mind.

                _No_.

                Somehow, Thomas resisted the urge to break down. It wasn’t worth it. Nothing could change. He did what he did and there was nothing he could do about it now. Showing weakness to everyone who was expecting something from him sure wouldn’t make anything better for the, potentially, last group of sane people on the Earth.

                _Shuck it,_ Thomas thought as he looked up for the first time in what seemed to be hours, but was really a few minutes. He looked at the vast ocean, something he had only previously seen in his vague memories that were left to him after the memory swipe. It was even more beautiful than he had imagined. _Indescribable_. Indescribable like the many of his memories he had made to get to this place. All of the people, all of the anger, all of the klunk. _Then again_ , Thomas Thought, _it was those experiences themselves that make this so indescribable. It feels so worth it, but so unreal._ As soon as he thought this, an almost imperceptible bubble of doubt had entered his mind, but it left as soon as it came.

                His eyes traced the shoreline through its many curves. The bluish hued water steadily rushed upon the shore, only to go back down in a few instants, leaving trace amounts of white foam. The wind lightly whipped the sand around the shoreline. A wind that was surprisingly cool, considering the rest of the world’s condition. Thomas could almost taste the salty tang of the seawater. This wasn’t unpleasant, though. It was actually quite amazing to him. Everything about this paradise was amazing.

                Thomas then looked up at the sky, a beautiful portrait of pinks, oranges, and reds lightly mixed together on a painter’s canvas to show the setting sun in excruciating detail. The white wispy clouds up above his head seemed to have stilled as if time itself finally felt like taking a break after what they had all gone through. _Maybe everything will be fine for once_ , Thomas thought as he dug his toes into the warm sand. He truly wanted to believe it.

Just as soon as he finished conjuring up the thought, he caught sight of Brenda, walking away from the shoreline and towards him, leaving her small, newly formed footprints behind her. She was first looking up into the sky, just as Thomas had done a second before. _Maybe she feels the same way as I do about this whole paradise place_ , Thomas thought. As her gaze steadily came down to Thomas, a smile crept onto her face. A radiant smile that reminded Thomas of something that he so desired and hoped that he could find in this place with her. _Happiness._ Something about her dark eyes and dark hair put him at ease and in a different, lighter hearted mindset. He barely noticed that a half ridiculous smile was planted on his face.

“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”

_Brenda_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minho's first chapter where he takes control of the group to find some shelter in their new found paradise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry i took a few days extra to post this one. I was scouting my head as to what i wanted my fan fiction's plot to be, but i think i figured it out so expect more to be posted more often. Please feel free to comment any advice that you may have for me. I hope you enjoy this chapter and look forward to future ones. Happy holidays!

_We’re finally free._

 Minho was standing about 200 feet from the shore in a patch of grass. To his right was the ocean and to the left was an immense, green forest. Minho was looking to his right, at the vast ocean and the exquisite sunset. Between him and this sight were two figures on the sand, intertwined in each other’s arms. _Thanks for all the help, you two,_ Minho thought with a smirk. _Been through all the klunk in the world and now that we’re out, you throw all of the responsibility back on your good ol’ pal Minho. Real sweet._ Minho smiled, he didn’t really mind. He actually preferred to be in charge and he also knew what a roller coaster Thomas had been through in the past few months. However, this task ahead of him was more daunting than anything he was faced with before.

Minho looked around at the huge group of immunes that he and his friends had saved that day, only moments ago. They ranged in everything, including age, height, weight, race, and even moods. Some of them looked extremely disgruntled, as if they would have rather been blown up by the Right Arm’s explosions set off in the WICKED complex instead of being saved and brought to the newfound paradise. On the other hand, there were a good amount of people who seemed very grateful to have been saved. Among these were mothers and fathers who had their little children either hanging on to their hands, with a cat’s curiosity in their eyes, or in their arms, cooing and looking around at their new environment.

In a way, Minho felt bad for these people. These people used to belong somewhere. They had a house, had more family, had plans for the future, but all of that was ripped away from them when the sun flares struck and the horrid disease later known as the flare, which turned completely normal and reasonable people into zombie-like cranks, was released. These people didn’t deserve any of this, even he and Thomas had it, at least slightly, better. They didn’t have their memories of their lives before the Glade. Sure, they may have been toyed with by WICKED in their sick trials and had people they loved die or succumb to the flare in front of them, but these people had everything taken: their jobs, their families, friends, way of living. Everything. They used to have a real purpose. Now everything was day to day for them, just trying to survive.

And the fact that these people looked expectantly at Minho didn’t exactly calm him. Maybe he had taken charge of the Gladers on the Scorch, but that seemed like a lifetime ago. Not to mention, that was only around 20 people and this current task was at least 200 bodies to control, mostly ones he didn’t know.

_What am I supposed to do?_ _Do I wait until tomorrow to run through the woods for shelter? There isn’t much time left today. What if there’s nothing and I lead them into some hungry cranks?_ Minho shook his doubt as he reached an uncertain decision.

_Well, I guess I have to start somewhere ._ Minho was going to do something he was born to do. _Run._

Minho shouted to get the attention of the large crowd of people. “Hi, my name in Minho and I’ll be your tour guide for the lovely trip. Please, hold your clapping for the end.” Minho said with a laugh that was not reciprocated by the anxious crowd. His tone became more serious,” Okay, I’m going to run into these woods. Once I’m back, we’re going to take a quick hike through these woods if I find some shuck shelter.” Minho stopped, making sure everybody heard him. “Before we go, I’m going to assign a group to security. You know, to make sure we don’t have any surprise guests in our new home that want to greet us.” Some of the faces in the crowd showed flashes of fear at his last comment. Minho understood, the fear of cranks was still very real to these people. Still very real to him and the rest of WICKED’s “subjects”.

 He listed off some names that he knew to keep the group together while he was gone as well as to defend them in case the whole “paradise without cranks” idea went south. “Aris, Frypan, Harriet, Gally, and Sonya. You win the jackpot.”

Then he was gone, running. He felt the soft crunch of the crisp grass turn into harder dirt once he reached the edge of the forest. Unlike the maze, the lush forest didn’t really have any definitive path for him to follow. This made it difficult for him, almost tripping on logs and stubs that jutted out of the dirt. Somehow, he managed not to trip, thankful that the forest was still dimly lit by the sun at his back. However, this light wouldn’t last long and he knew. He either had to find something for the rest of the group or they would spend a night by the beach. The thought wouldn’t normally bother him, but he felt a cold chill in the air and he didn’t need someone freezing to death.

Minutes went by of nothing but trees and a forest floor covered with tree stubs and fallen leaves. Minho became disheartened. He at least thought that whoever it was from WICKED wouldn’t drop them in this place without anything at all. His hope diminished with every step.

Just when he was about to turn around, he saw something between the densely packed oak, birch, and pine trees. It was a clearing with gravel in it. With every passing instant, the clearing came incrementally into his view until he finally saw it; a line of log cabins. At least ten of them. At this, he turned around, hoping with every fiber in his body that those log cabins were vacant.

Minho got back to the group just before the sun dipped beneath the horizon, leaving a dark blue hue in the sky. Minho relaxed slightly as the group started moving.

All of a sudden, Frypan piped up. “Shouldn’t we tell Thomas and the girl that we are leaving and that you’ve found cabins?”

Minho thought about it as he walked past the threshold of the forest, farther and farther away from his best friend. “No, you know our boy, Tommy; he lives in another world.” Minho said sarcastically. “They’ll find us when they are ready.” He knew it was true. Thomas needed some time to comprehend what had happened. Minho respected that.

Minho set off in front of the pack like a Sheppard to his flock, with only Gally by his side. The rest of the security detail were scattered around the large group, making sure that no one was left behind and ,more importantly, that there were no surprises in store for them in the woods.

What had seemed like hours passed by with only slight murmurs of conversation among the crowd. Minho swore that it shouldn’t have been taking this long, but he was also running before. The groans of the people told him that they thought the same thing about it taking an obscene amount of time.  To add to the fun, people kept almost tripping on tree stubs or walking into trees because the sun had long ago stopped guiding them in the almost pitch black forest. _Flashlights sure would have been nice_ , Minho thought with a scowl.

Out of nowhere, a loud yell rose about the quiet mutterings of the Immunes, leading to panicked whispers that painted the look of terror in Minho’s mind. Then, an eerie silence took over. Gally looked over at him with uncertainty.

In the split seconds since the yell, doubt clawed at Minho. His decision to bring these people to the cabins during the night had been a huge mistake and now they were easy pickings for any cranks nearby.

Interrupting his thoughts that were filled with dread and death, Frypan groaned, “Sorry, I think I broke my toe on one of these shuck trees.” His voice was glazed in pain.

The crowd’s relief was felt throughout Minho’s whole body. He was just being jumping to conclusions, which showed how much of an imprint his time with WICKED had really left on his psyche.

Minho spoke up, taking control of the situation, “How about next time you slim it and don’t give everyone a heart attack? I might just give Gally here the new kitchen to play around with.” Frypan snickered, but remained silent.

Minho focused on ahead at what appeared to be the clearing and then back at the shadowy figures behind him. “Okay all of you shanks, we’re here.”


End file.
